Pakistan leader visits shot girl in British hospital

A handout picture released by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham on Dec 8, 2012 shows Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari (left) and his daughter Asifa Bhutto (right) meet with Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban Malala Yousafzai (centre) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England on Dec 8, 2012. Mr Zardari on Dec 8 visited a Pakistani schoolgirl who is recovering in a British hospital after she was shot by the Taleban for campaigning for girls' education. -- PHOTO: AFP

LONDON (AFP) - Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday visited the Pakistani schoolgirl recovering in a British hospital after she was shot by the Taleban for campaigning for girls' education.

Mr Zardari also met 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai's family at the specialist Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, where Malala was flown from Pakistan in October following the brutal attack on her school bus. "President Zardari, accompanied by his daughter Asifa Bhutto, met with clinicians who have been treating Malala since her admission to the hospital," the hospital said in a statement.

"They were brought up to date on the 15-year-old's medical progress and her future treatment plan." In an attack that shocked the world, Malala was shot in the head on Oct 9 as punishment for the "crime" of campaigning for girls' rights to go to school.

She miraculously survived the murder attempt but requires reconstructive surgery after the bullet grazed her brain, coming within centimetres of killing her.